June 11, 2004
Annecy Report #2
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Sleep is not part of the schedule at a festival like Annecy. With the exception of one night where I managed a full twelve hours of sleep, all my other nights in Annecy have only generated 3-4 hours of shut eye. But the opportunities to meet all the people mentioned above among many other fine folks more than makes up for the lack of slumber. To give an example of the type of activities available here in Annecy, in the span of the last 24 hours, in addition to watching films, I've been to an intimate late-night gathering at the picturesque ANIMATION MAGAZINE villa, a fun little picnic by Lake Annecy with animation folk like Bill Plympton, Georges Schwizgebel, Signe Baumane and Patrick Smith, and a late-night gathering at the incredibly packed "American Bar," a Scottish pub where mostly English-speaking folks hang out when there's no other parties going on.
June 10, 2004
SUPER-HEROES ON TELEVISION
If I were running the Museum of Broadcasting, I would schedule a program like THIS!
KING BABIES
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STALLING IMPORT
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June 09, 2004
POPEYE'S VOYAGE
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Just came back from the above. GOD, I love that show. Anyway...Fears re: the Popeye CGI cartoon's look seem unfounded. The King Features booth was running a 2-minute demo of the cartoon and the character design is nowhere near as offputting as that one sh--ty press shot would suggest. In fact, apart from the disorienting 3D look of traditionally 2D characters (will Peanuts be next?) and that horrible Popeye Rap they were running throughout the demo, it looks very good.
And yep, Baby Pink Panther, Baby Popeye, Baby Betty Boop were there... nauseating.
MERRIE MELODIES MYSTERY
Cartoon historian Cole Johnson sent me this jpeg of his cel from HOLLYWOOD STEPS OUT (WB 1941).
The odd thing about it is that in the actual cartoon, Jimmy Stewart is wearing a tux - not an Army uniform. Cole thinks this might be the way the film was originally - and changed for its "Blue Ribbon" reissue. My guess is that this was a special cel made for publicity purposes.
As HOLLYWOOD STEPS OUT was in production in 1940, and released May 1941, before the US entered the war - and as Stewart joined the Army in March '41 - and that both characters are on the same cel (they were most likely on separate cels on the production art), I doubt this was an image from the original version of the film.
But a damn nice piece of art, Cole. Thanks for sharing it with us.
TAKE AN INKER TO LUNCH
Would you like to talk to a woman who's animation career spans more than 50 years?
Women in Animation Los Angeles presents a salon honoring Merle Welton, who began her life in animation as an inker on Disney's Snow White. This informal lunch event will be at the Smoke House restaurant on Saturday July 10, 2004 beginning at 12 noon.
Merle will tell tales about her days at Disney, about the fun of working at Filmation and the golden days at Hanna Barbera. The Smoke House is located at 4420 Lakeside Dr., Burbank, across from Warner Brothers. To join this luncheon you need to call WIA's reservation line (310-535-3838) to reserve a seat.
Annecy Report #1
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Annecy: I've really enjoyed walking around the "old town" area of Annecy, a wonderful maze of narrow streets and perfectly "aged" buildings, perhaps a bit Disney-fied (it seems they construct the facades of the new buildings to look weathered), but nevertheless quite pretty. I'd post photos, but I opted at the last moment to leave my digital camera back home. Photos from my throwaway camera will be posted upon my return to LA. I also inadvertently got lost in the residential areas of the city (Annecy and its surrounding areas have a population of over 100,000 so it's not exactly a tiny town), and it ended up being a nice way of seeing parts of Annecy that I otherwise may not have had an opportunity to see. I'm planning on getting lost again sometime later in the week to see more of the city.
On Sunday evening, my first night in town, I had a pleasant dinner with Ed Hooks, author of ACTING FOR ANIMATORS. Ed, an actor himself, told me about his next book which he's just finishing up and it sounds wonderful. For this second volume on animation acting, he's selected around a dozen animated features, both classic Disney and modern features (including CG and anime), and he's writing an in-depth analysis of the acting in each of these films. Should be a valuable book for animators.
TOKYO GODFATHER: Like Satoshi Kon's earlier film MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, this opening night film of the festival also whisked me away into a deep slumber. But that's not the surprise. Following the film, I ran into animation legend Ray Harryhausen at the opening night party, and we chatted for a bit. He asked me what I had thought of TOKYO GODFATHERS and I admitted that I fell asleep during the film. Ray then gave his review of the film, and in the process showed me why he's a legend: because he has great taste. Ray said there was absolutely no reason to produce GODFATHERS in animation because it didn't take advantage of the medium. He also pondered why the filmmakers had designed all the characters to be so unappealing and ugly. I didn't think there was any way I could have more respect for Ray Harryhausen than I already did, but he showed me a way.
Films: Watching animated shorts is of course one of the main reasons for attending any animation festival and I've already seen a handful of good ones. Two highlights have been the impressive CG film RYAN by Chris Landreth (about the life of NFB animator Ryan Larkin) and Mike Gabriel's LORENZO, which artfully shows the undiscovered potential of blending hand-drawn and digital animation. (For more on these films, check out Mark Mayerson's comments on RYAN, and Jerry Beck's thoughts on LORENZO). Roy Disney was in the house for one of the screenings of LORENZO and he received thunderous and lengthy applause. I've also enjoyed CALPYSO LIKE SO by Bruno Collet (France) which is a stop motion piece about Robert Mitchum's quest for an Oscar. Fellow Annecy attendee Will Ryan pointed out that the storytelling in the film was a bit confused, and I agree, but any fan of Mitchum films like NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, THE LONGEST DAY and CAPE FEAR will get a kick out of the film. I've laughed hardest at PLASTICAT by Simon Bogojevic-Narath (Croatia). The film's CG characters are fairly crude, but they are well animated and the concept is great. It takes the cliche of good and evil fairies, which appear above character's shoulders in countless cartoons and live-action films, and skewers the idea to its ultimate extreme. FRANK AND WENDY HUNGERBURGER from David Snowman (Estonia) was also quite bizarre and funny - something about an evil plan to implant electronic chips into hamburgers to make people want to eat more burgers, the "axis of evil," and a fly that saves the day. I'm still trying to figure it out.
More to come...
June 08, 2004
MONSTER ROAD
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The reclusive Bickford usually works alone in a small basement studio in Seattle. His films, especially the dark and magical clay animations he created for musician Frank Zappa in the 1970s (see BABY SNAKES), have achieved cult status, even though very little of his 40 year body of work has been released to the public.
Bickford will be making several L.A. appearences this month in conjunction with screenings at IFP LA Film Festival. MONSTER ROAD is screening this week in ANNECY and has already won numerous awards at Sundance, Ann Arbor and the Boston Film Festivals. It screens in Hollywood on Tuesday, June 22 at 9:30 pm, Laemmle Sunset Theatre (8000 Sunset Blvd), and Thursday, June 24 at 5:15 pm, DGA Theatre 2 (7920 Sunset Blvd.). Bickford will be on hand at the screenings to answer questions and show some of his original clay sculptures.
On Wednesday night June 23rd at 10:00pm at the Sponto Gallery, 7 Dudley Ave. in Venice, Bickford will personally screen some of his latest short films. (I will be screening some rare musical films that night peceeding Bickford's appearence).
SPEED RACER
Movielink has acquired the right to carry all 52 episodes of the classic Speed Racer animated television series for legal download, to view on PC's, laptops or on TV at any time, according to this press release.
The Speed Racer episodes offered on Movielink will be packaged together and rented as 1 1/2 to two-hour segments.
June 07, 2004
2-D EXPO
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I am one of the co-conspirators behind this event - and it's shaping up nicely. Basically it's a full day of panels discussing the current state of traditional (you know, hand drawn) animation. Confirmed panelists & guests include Eric Goldberg, Shane Glines, Raul Garcia, Mark Kausler, Mike Nguyen, Bert Klein, Tom Sito, Eddie Mort, Lili Chin, Jorge Gutuerrez and Gabe Swarr. Amid and I will be moderating panels.
Panels cover topics such as "2-D THE NEXT DIRECTION", "FLASH ANIMATION", "DOING IT YOURSELF", "DISTRIBUTION" and "NETWORK PROGRAMMING".
In the evening we are planning a sneak preview screening of a new 2-D feature (to be announced) and a program of recent UNSOLD PILOTS. There will be a networking area with a few exhibitors, including bookseller Stuart Ng, animators Stephen Silver and Bob Harper, The Animation Show and the Asifa booth which will take consignments, selling artists sketch books and art materials.
June 06, 2004
THE BUZZ ON "PRIDE"
This doesn't sound too good:
Silence greeted the NBC sales presentation of FATHER OF THE PRIDE, the Dreamworks CG animated comedy based on Siegfried and Roy's tiger family. According to an AP story, "...bad buzz had started humming for one of NBC's highest-profile fall series." Industry analyst Jack Myers wrote, "The reaction of NBC's advertising clients was so negative that it's unlikely the program will last on NBC's schedule."